The burning question on Day-10

Large Bowl Carved from a Single Piece of Agate

I have been asked, what is the piece that impressed you the most... 

and with so many it is very hard.  But, my favorite was this Agate 

Bowl.  It is more than 2 feet across and carved from a single stone 

with incredible skill and precision.

Day 10 - Museums in Vienna

Hapsburg Gold Center Pieces

The Art Museum

Egyptian Room Vienna Art Museum

We got up early and had breakfast.  Then headed to the museums.  We saw Imperial Palace.  It was of course huge and the first part of the museum was dedicated only to all the dishes, china and centerpieces the Hapsburg royalty used.The center pieces were all in gold and then and there I decided I needed to spice up my table at home, perhaps with a huge gold centerpiece.  We then saw the Sisi museum, dedicated to the empress Elizabeth, the mother of the Duke who killed himself and his mistress at Mayerling. Sad. It is too bad that they didn't have any way of treating depression a hundred and fifty years ago. But of course we moved on to see the royal apartments. They were in very good shape and gave me a few decorating ideas. (for the new wing of the palace in Texas when we get around to it.)

We then toured the royal treasury and saw crowns and jewelry and other items that made the monarchy the richest in Europe.   We then crosses the street to the art museum and the time we had left we did not do it justice. We have to come back here, there is too much to see. The building was incredible and all marble.  Feeling tired, we headed back to the hotel to watch prime BBC TV,which is no great shakes but it was either the BBC or Law and Order in German. Tomorrow on to Budapest.

Day-9 On to Vienna Austria

Parliament Building

Kursalon Concert Hall in Vienna, Austria

We had a taxi pick us up at the hotel and deliver us to the train station as we were not that keen about trying the metro to get there on time.  Once there, we asked one of the local "train" people where Platform 3S was located and ran in to the first person we can remember who spoke NO English in Prague.  It was amazing now that I think about it.  We had absolutely no communication problems in Prague.  When I stopped to get a crepe the other day there were a group of Danes there that spoke English to communicate because that was their common language with the Czechs.  Fortunately, we found a mar of the train station and figured it out ourselves.

The train ride from Prague to Wien was beautiful.  The southern Czech Republic was just beautiful.  Amazing views of little streams in narrow valleys and beautiful forests on the hills. [ I'd like to come back and drive through that area some day. ] 

We arrived in Vienna and then took a local train to the Hilton Vienna which is located just outside of the "Altstadt."  We hen headed out to explore the "Old Town" and take a few pictures.  We picked up some Tram tickets after walking a mile or two and followed the "Ring Road" around the Old Town for a while.  We stopped for a sausage and then headed back toward the Hotel.  All in all a pretty good day.

Old Town Vienna at Night

Night -8

Nerudova Street

I went out after dark and took a few pictures of the streets and city at night.  Prague is really a pretty nice place.  Very old world in many ways and yet new and exciting in others.  Worth a visit if you get a chance.

Prague Palace at Night

The Road from the Palace at Night

Downtown Prague at Night

Day-8

This is the room at the Castle Steps.  Pretty nice.

I got an early morning call from my friend Kent who didn't know I was in Prague this morning.  We just had a great old time talking on Skype which is about the coolest thing ever for traveling.  I am not a pitchman for them, but if you ever do a lot of travel and you can get internet access Skype will save you a ton of money.  Kent, called me on the cell phone at about $1/minute and I called him back on Skype for about $ 0.05 a minute.  Even in Switzerland where the internet costs ran $ 0.40/minute it was cheaper to use Skype.  Anyway, we had a nice chat and I decided I need to go to Las Vegas for a long weekend or something to see him… before he moves to someplace else.  

Well, the rain has returned to Prague,  I think i'll be using the umbrella to go to breakfast today. We went down and got tram tickets.  We jumped on the tram going the wrong direction and ended up having to back-track to get to the Charles Bridge.  The bridge is 650 years old and has been undergoing repairs since 2007.  A lot of it is done but they are working on it a section at a time so tourists can still see most of the bridge and walk across it. This is looking back toward the bridge Gatehouse from the first part of the bridge.

Once we got into Old Town we went to the Kepler Museum.  It was very small but actually very interesting (It only cost $3.00 for entry) and fun.  We learned a few things we didn't know about his life.  One interesting portion was a compendium of quotes from people who knew Kepler well, like Goethe who said that among other things Kepler was a really nice guy, who laughed a lot.

       

We ate lunch a an overpriced place near the old town square then saw the chapel where the Hussites worship. They are sort of a cross between protestants  and Catholics. Then we went to the design museum and saw glassware and fabrics and caught several trams going is various directions in an attempt to get back to the hotel. We stopped for spaghetti and gnocchi on the way back. So here we are, packing again for a trip to Vienna tomorrow.

Day 7 - The Castle in Prague

Today September 1 we began the morning by walking uphill for several blocks to the breakfast area for the bed and breakfast. The establishment has several buildings and I guess they feel that everyone needs a good walk uphill before breakfast. After that we went further up the hill to the monastery and then spent the rest of the day at the palace. It is a huge complex at the top of the hill and the current Czech president lives in part of it. The cathedrals one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe. The palace is also one of the largest. 

One interesting experience was that like many places we visit photography is prohibited, but the Czechs are creative you can by a license to photograph in the palace.  So, rather than just say yes or no they figured out how to make a few bucks out of it.

We had to take a break and get a bite to eat and drink, so we just stopped in at a little cafe on the hill and had a sandwich and some water.  Rick tried some Czech dish that was sort of like scalloped potatoes with ham… very interesting. 

After wandering through cathedrals and convents and art galleries for another couple of hours, we called it a day. The picture of Nerudova street is the street where the bed and breakfast is located. Wish I had spent more time on the stair-master.  For dinner we went back to the same little restaurant as last night.  We are creatures of habit.  It was also close to the B&B and it was raining.

Day 6 Getting to Prague (Pahra)

Well first we had to get to the train station.  Jamie took us in her BMW 335.  You know in "Deutchland" a girl just has to have a good ride.  We left 10 minutes late and got to the train station 10 minutes early.  Well, that worked great.

We got the train to Frankfort and then the train from Frankfort to Nuremberg.  That was very nice and fast.  There is construction on the Deutche Bahn and so we had to take a bus to Prague.  In a little over 4 hours the bus arrived at the train station one minute late (in crazy traffic) and then we met our prearranged taxi to get to the hotel.  That was a good move as we were tired and and just a little cranky by the time we got to Prague.  
We settled in the room, went looking for a cash machine for another currency Czech Krowns and finally went to dinner.  We chose a little Czech place right up the street from where we stayed and had a nice dinner for two, three courses each, two large bottles of sparkling water for about $40.